


Jack and the Northern-lights

by Biscuit



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety, F/M, Family, Getting Together, Kids, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 15:16:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17727662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Biscuit/pseuds/Biscuit
Summary: Eight years ago, Jack left everything behind.But today, he needs his old friends more than ever. He feels lonelier he ever felt. But he does not know how to reach back at them. Until his seven years-old daughter fall totally in love with the heart-crusher Felix Knight-Duan and Jack must face his old friends for his girl happiness.Will they forgive him? Will Jack find happiness with the people who used to be in best friends? And why is Bittle still as cute as he used to be ten years ago?





	1. Chapter 1

• June 2021 • 

“If you want to leave take good care, I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there. But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware.”  
Jack looked at his now former fiancé who was walking away. He smiled sadly at the last sentence he had said to him. It was a quote from Jack’s favorite song at the time. Jack knew he was making a massive mistake. Breaking-up with his fiancé. Leaving everything behind, not telling his friends he was leaving. He just felt like he owed Eric an explanation. So he explained everything to him. And Eric left, crying.

 

• May 2023 • 

“We are happy to introduced Rose Liliane Zimmermann. She arrived yesterday, a bit earlier than planned. She is healthy and seems happy to be in the real world with her parents. Isaure is recovering fine. Love, Jack & Isaure”

He looked at the email he just got. He knew he needed to respond. But he did not really know how, it was the first email he got in almost two years. 

“Hi Jack, happy to hear you’re happy. Congratulations on the little Rose! I hope she looks like you, you’re a beauty my friend. Lards and I are having one of our own little human later this year. Love you buddy, B.S.K.”

He did not get an email back.

 

 

• August 4, 2023 •

“Hi Jack, I’m a dad! He is perfect and everything beyond. Lards was a fucking goddess. Our boy was born on your birthday so… because you’re my bestie we named him Felix Jack Knight-Duan. I miss you a lot today. Fuck I would kill to see you hold my boy. I hope your girl is doing amazingly, I bet she is as smart as you were as baby. I hope to hear from you. Love, Shitty.”

A few days after sending his email, Shitty found a package addressed to his son at his door. The package came from Paris, in France. And he contained the cutest bunny Shitty had ever seen. The card only said “Congratulations! Thanks for thinking of me as your best friend after everything I did wrong. Give Larissa a massive hug she deserves it. Love, Jack.”

 

 

• August 3, 2029 • 

“Happy Birthday to Felix. Love, Jack.”  
“Happy birthday right at you, Beauts. Can’t believe you’re one year shy of 40 ! It’s insane.”

As usual, he did not had a reply to his text. It was like that with Jack. Jack texted him at New Year, for his birthday, for Larissa’s birthday and for all their kids’. But he never replied to Shitty’s messages. 

Jack looked at his phone. He really wanted to reply. He wanted to tell his friend he was back in the US, he wanted to tell him his wife died a few year ago and he felt like shit. He wanted to tell him how grown up Rosie looked, how amazing she was with English even though he always spoke French with her. And how she was starting in a new school in a couple of weeks. He wanted to ask for a picture of Shitty and his family, he wanted to be friends with them all. He wanted so much, but dared too little. 

“Papa, are you going to get ice-cream or what? It’s your birthday!”

Jack laughed at his girl. She was seven, she was all of his world. And he liked to think he was not all of hers.


	2. Chapter 2

“Record scratch. Freeze frame. Yup. That’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in that situation.”  
Looking at his six boys, Barthélémy thought of this old sentence. How did he end up in that particular situation? Well, unprotected sex for the major part. Poor planning played a huge role too. And in that very particular situation where all of his boys were jumping on his bed instead of going to their, it was mostly because today kicked his ass and he could not find the force to yell at them.  
“Boys, for fuck sake could you stop being little bitches and go to bed before your mom come home?”  
“Too late, Bart, Mom’s here!”  
“Don’t call your dad, Bart, Chad!” his call mom called out, coming into the bedroom. “So, today is one of those day?”  
“Today is one of those day, dear. I can not wait for them all to be in their bed, and for us to be drinking a well deserved tea.”  
“Tea? Rock’n’roll, babe,” she teased him before calling her boys one by one.

Bart stopped working after the birth of their third child. He liked being a stay-at-home dad better than being a lawyer and his wife liked her job too much. They thought about nannies, but they did not like the idea of someone else raising their brood.  
And after four years at home, Bart could say without saying that being a stay-at-home daddy was his calling. He liked being the one in charge of the household and taking care of his babies. He liked knowing whose socks it was when only one was found, he liked grocery shopping in the middle of the days with the little ones.  
But someday were more difficult than other. And today was a difficult one. He breathed a bit too loud and went on with the well-rehearsed bedtime routine.

“I can not believe Chad did not ever shed a tear when you left him at school.”  
“Me neither. I was prepared for the tears. Not for being ignored in favour of playing with B-square.”  
“It’s cool they’re both in the same class.”  
The couple was sitting at the window of their kitchen. They both had a cup of tea in their hands, and they were sharing a joint. Old habits die hard, they once told themselves, but they also knew it was not a habit anymore, just a once in months occasion.  
“Lards?”  
“Yep?”  
“How would you feel knowing our eldest is getting married on Friday?”  
“Felix is getting married?”  
“He told me so. First day of 2nd grade and he finds his wife. Her name is Rose, she just arrived from France. She has, and I quote our son there, “fucking beautiful blue eyes”. So he proposed on the spot, and they are getting married during Friday lunch break. You will be delighted to know we are both invited.”

•••

“Then, I found my seat and sat at my place and next to me, the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen sat next to me. And Papa, you won’t believe me but he said “well, you have the most fucking beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen”. And we became boyfriend and girlfriend at recess. He is amazing. He has a lot of brothers. And he is so cute and also his brother came to us during the lunch recess and he told him that we were getting married Friday and I want to invite you to my wedding. And also, do you think we could invite him to play over this weekend? I really can’t imagine spending two whole day without him, Papa. I really love him, you know.”

Jack listened to her girl talking non-stop since he picked her up at school five hours earlier. She had a great first day and he was glad. But he was also concerned about her baby being in love. “Papa! I have the best idea! The very best! You could email his parents now! And ask if he can come play at home this weekend!”  
“I don’t have their email, Rosie!”  
“Yes, you do! In the school app!”

Rose was seven year-old. And Jack knew she was bossing him around. She mostly did it by kindness. She also noticed her dad needed someone to boss him around in his bad days, which were not that rare.

“Okay, I’ll email them.”  
“Do it now, Papa!”  
“I will do it when you’ll be in bed.”  
“I am in bed, Papa!”

Jack laughed at that. His girl was a clever and sassy one.

•••

“Hello, my name is Jack Zimmermann and I am Rose’s dad. My daughter spoke highly of your son and she really wants him to come over this weekend for a play date. Being new in town, I don’t really know if play dates are usual here, if they are not you could just say no. No hard feeling. Thanks for reading me, Rose’s dad – Jack.”

•••

Barthélémy’s morning routine was simple and efficient. He woke up at 5, went to the kitchen, he did every morning a series of 100 push-ups and 50 squats, then he ran for half an hour. After his work out, his wife was awake and they had their breakfast together. Then the kids were awake and the chaos began.  
During his run, he always asked his phone if he had emails, it was the only habits he kept from his lawyer-days.  
And today his phone told him he received three emails. One was from his father and it was a request to see his son and grandsons, without a mention of the mother. The second was a reply to a thread he had with his college friends. So, apparently Chris and Caitlin were going one vacation without their kids for the first time and everyone was freaking out. And the last one was email from the “School App”. The school app was the best thing, it allowed every parent to know how their kids were doing in school on a daily basis, they could get picture and notes. They could notify if their kid were sick or leaving early. And Bart’s favourite feature was the contact thing. Every parent on the class could send message to any parent of the class. And it came quite handy for organizational purpose. Especially when you’re a stay-at-home father and you want your kid to have a lot of fun.  
Bart stopped his run to read the message on the school app. And he froze.  
What were the probabilities of Jack Zimmermann’s daughter being in his son’s class? They were extremely low. But at the same time, how many Zimmermann, with two M and two N were they? And of that little number how many Jack? With a daughter named Rose?  
Bart went home earlier than usual and after his shower and went back on the message. He clicked on “reply” and remembered that parents’ names were not display. On top of the screen there was a sad “reply to Rose’s parent”.

•••

“Well, well, well! I can not believe my own son is getting married to The Zimmermann girl. What were the odds?  
Jack! My bro, you should have told me you were back in the States! And most importantly, back in Providence, my dude! Well, duck me sideway, YOU guys are coming over this saturday, the kiddos will play, and the adults will do whatever we want to do because we are fucking adults!! And we shall celebrate you being back! Barthélémy Shitty Knight.  
PS : Lards will be so happy! Like so fucking happy!”

•••

Rosie was working on her hair when Jack’s phone chimed. And because her dad was not in the room she looks at the phone. His dad had a message on the school app. Because it was her school, she decided to read it, even though her dad was not really okay with her reading his messages. After reading it a few time, she went to the kitchen where her dad was cleaning up the breakfast and asked:  
“What does 'duck me sideway' mean?”  
Jack chocked on his water.  
“Excuse me?”  
“You got a message from Barthélémy and he said that.”  
“From who?”  
“Barthélémy?” she repeated again with her French pronunciation. “Barthélémy Shitty Knight?”  
“And he said ‘duck me sideways’?” Jack smiled.  
“Just read it, I need to finish my hair!”  
Jack looked at his phone and wondered why the Universe liked to play with him.

•••

> Hi.

> hi jack!

> Thanks for your invitation. We will come Saturday. Shall we bring anything?

> just you, your girl, and anyone you feel might beneficiate this meeting

> It’ll be only the two us. Have been for the last two years.

> Sorry. Did not know that.

> Yeah… Not your fault, I should have told you.

•••

BSK: YOU WILL NOT GUESS WHO IS COMING TO MY PLACE THIS SATURDAY?  
Adam B-O: Justin’s mom?  
Justin B-O: Adam’s mom?  
Bitty Bittle: I am so glad you all matured up.  
Bitty Bittle: So WHO?  
Larissa Knight-Duan: GUYS! GUYS!  
Larissa Knight-Duan: JACK IS BACK IN TOWN !!  
Larissa Knight-Duan: I REPEAT JACK IS BACK IN TOWN!!  
Larissa Knight-Duan: I have a meeting with him this afternoon!  
Adam B-O: Jack? Like Jack-Jack?  
Larissa Knight-Duan: YEP !  
Larissa Knight-Duan: JACK FUCKING ZIMMERMANN IS BACK.  
BSK : Well… You kinda ruined my surprise, honey.  
Larissa Knight-Duan: why?  
BSK: He is coming over Saturday. He is Felix’s girlfriend’s dad…  
Larissa Knight-Duan: WTF?  
BSK: Our Felix is in love with Rose.  
BSK: Rose’s dad is Jack Laurent Zimmermann.  
BSK: And they are coming over Saturday for a playdate.  
Adam B-O: wahoo…  
Adam B-O: The guy leaves for 7 years and just come back like that.  
Justin B-O: Was I the only one to not know that he had a girl?  
Bitty Bittle: No, you were not.  
BSK: Fuuuuck.  
BSK: Sorry BB, I did not mean to be inconsiderate.  
BSK: I feel like I fucking messed up  
BSK: I know we said we would never talk about him.  
Bitty Bittle: Don’t worry. I get you’re excited to see him. He was your BFF after all.  
Larissa Knight-Duan: Well, the Knight-Duan were fucking assholes today. Sorry Bits, I was not thinking clearly. And I would like to formally apologize. We decided to never talk about him ever again, and both Shits and I messed up.

\-- New group chat with Adam B-O, BSK, Justin B-O and Larissa Knight-Duan:  
Adam B-O: Could you spill the tea on the whole Jack situation?  
Adam B-O: Bits is not in that GC. And I want to know…  
Justin B-O: Me too :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are mistakes, just tell me : I'll correct them. English is not my first language and writing that is a challenge for me. :)
> 
> Thanks for all of the subscriptions :) Love <3


	3. Chapter 3

“Fuck, I can not believe you’ve seen Jack again. How is he?”  
“Did you guys came before Bitty just to gossip about Jack?”  
“Well, you did not reply in our special Jack-only group chat and we need to know, you know.”  
“Oh my god, Adam, you are becoming such a suburban mom, it’s creepy.”  
“Lardo, pretty please, I need to know!”  
“Let it go, Adam, she does not even talk to me about it. And I’ve tried everything…”  
“Justin”, Adam yelled for his husband to hear in the other room, “Lardo and Shitty are gonna have a seventh baby in nine months.”  
“Fuck you, Adam, we are not,” Lardo smiled.  
“Fuck us if we do have a seventh one. Because it’s impossible to have a fucking five minutes peace without our lovely brats coming to us.”  
“Is Soren still sleeping with you?” Adam asked.  
“Well, now we have Soren, and Ullyses, and Knut! The whole gang is joining us during various time of the night. We are trying everything from the books, but they say they are scared of bloody anything and…”  
“It’s been kind of rough,” Shitty said sadly.  
“Hey, guys, you know you can count on us. Lean on your friends!”  
Shitty looked at one of his oldest friends. Adam, Justin, Lardo and Shitty went to college together and never lost touch. After college, they all lived together. Then, Adam and Justin realized they were in love (no one was really surprised about that realization, but they were all surprised to hear they wanted to get married as soon as possible.) and they changed flat and lived a block away from each other. When Lardo got pregnant for the first time, they were the third and fourth to know about it. The first one being the last one of their gang, Eric. He was in there when Lardo learnt she was pregnant and he was the shoulder she cried on.   
Every Fridays, for the last decade, the five of them had dinner together. Most of the time it was something super casual, because there were seven kids and the grown-up were tired. Tonight was a Extra casual Friday. The kids were all in their pyjamas in front of a Disney movie and the grown up did not even try to bath them.   
When the doorbell rang a distinct pattern, the kids all got up and ran to the door. It was Bitty’s pattern. 

•••

Eric Bittle was 34. He loved his job, he really did. He liked being the community manager of local restaurants in the city. He really loved it, but he was so glad when Friday came. Growing up in a traditional family, he always hoped to be married and have kids before hitting his 30’s. But, yeah, that did not happened. And now his friends were his family. He loved their kids. He loved their noise, he loved their chatter and mostly everything about them. He took every kid on one to one date every Sunday and they were doing crazy stuff, and sometimes Bitty asked the kids to not tell their parents about it. And none of the kids snitched on him yet. That week he was going on a double date with both Chad and B-square, because they started school that week and Bitty was taking them to the zoo to celebrate.  
Bitty loved the little traditions he had with the kids - the mini cupcakes he had to bring every Friday, the cards they make for every Holidays, the fact he had to rang the bell a special way and wait until he counted to 30 to open the unlocked door. He particularly liked the last one, because every time, the kids were waiting for him behind the door.

•••

“You know what I really liked about those Friday nights?” Shitty asked his wife, when the bell rang, “The fact that we now have a whole five minutes to make out before anyone comes into the kitchen.”  
“Still in the room, guys” Adam said with a grin, standing up.  
“Well, you can stay and watch,” Lardo replied before kissing her husband roughly.  
Adam left the kitchen and found the cutest scene in the hallway. Bitty was sitting on the stairs, and the kids where on his knees, back, head.   
“Those kids sure do love him,” he said to his husband who was standing in the doorway.  
“Yeah, they sure do. Adam?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I love you.”  
“Love you, too, Justin.”  
Their moment was cute short when the kids started yelling. The adults looked at each other and laughed.

•••

“Bits?”  
“Yep, my Knut?”  
“Why can’t I come to the zoo?”  
“Because this is not our date. We can go when you start school.”  
The boy went back to cuddling his favourite uncle. From all of the kids, this one had a special place in Bitty’s heart. Maybe because he was the only one with his father green eyes, or maybe because he was the only blond of the brood. Often, his mom called him Bitty Junior, and both the child and Bitty were happy about that nickname.   
“Bits?”  
“Yep, my Knut?”  
“Can I come bake at your house tomorrow?”  
“Yes, if you want. But I also need to do some grocery shopping, it will be boring, you know!”  
“Can I get a little shopping cart, please?”  
“We need to ask your parents, before I can say yes.”  
“I know that! Maaammaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

From the couch where she was sitting next to her two oldest, Lardo looked at Shitty and had one of their silent conversation.   
“He is a really a mama’s boy, this one.”  
“Oh boy, do I know!”  
“Yes, my Knut, what do you want?”, she replied for her son to hear.  
“Can I go to my Bitty tomorrow?”  
“When?”  
“I said tomorrow.”  
“And I have heard, but when tomorrow?”

The little boy looked at Bitty.  
“After lunch,” the adult whispered.  
“After lunch,” the boy yelled.  
“You can’t go, Knut, my girl-wife is coming to play!,” his older brother countered. “Mom, say he can’t go. Rosie will be sad to not meet everyone in my family! I will meet everyone from hers.”  
Knut stood up and went to his older brother who was in the living room with everyone. In front of Felix, he put his little fists on his hips and said :  
“I’ll let you know that you’re not the boss of me. My mama is the boss of me. Not you. So, I don’t have to listen to you!”  
“Knut, cut the crap. You can go to Bitty. Felix, he can meet your girl-wife another time, don’t you think she might be overwhelmed with everyone,” Shitty said, ending the fight.  
“Yeah, cut the crap, Knut!”  
“Chad, shut it!,” Lardo said, with practice.  
“Yeah, Chad, shut it,” B-square mocked.   
“Barthélémy, close your mouth, thank you,” Adam sighed.

•••

A few hours later, all of the kids were asleep in various locations of the house and the adults found their way in the kitchen, they all took their usual place around the kitchen table. Sometime they were drinking wine, sometimes it was tequila, but tonight was a hot cocoa type of night.   
“I kept thinking about your Knut,” Justin started, “he is stuck between the bastard twins (Shitty snorted at the nickname.) and between the actual one. And maybe, yeah, I don’t really know how to formulate this, but sometime I forget he is only four.”  
“It is really complicated for him. Like the twins are still in diapers and they still drink a bottle every night but he has to be with them all day long when all of the others are at school. And the fact that the bastard twins are not extra nice to him, it’s a lot.”  
“You should put him on a team. Like soccer or lacrosse,” Adam said.   
“Yeah, we thought about it. But he is not the most outdoor kid we have. He likes baking and  
talking to his stuffed animal.”  
“Well, try to put him on skates. It worked for me.”  
“And once again, Bittle scores with a magnificent idea! Why haven’t you thought of it, Lardo? You work at the ice-rink.”  
“Maybe because I wish to not have another team to manage at home, you know,” she smiled. “We can talk about it tomorrow, with Jack, about you know putting little ones on skate.”  
“Yeah. He did start when he was barely walking,” Bitty stated.   
“You know, Bits, if you don’t want us to be friends with him, we won’t. I swear.”  
“Shitty, I am better than this. He used to be your best friend, you are the only one he kept in touch with. Just be happy and be his friend again. I just don’t really want to hear about it, if that’s okay, with y’all.”  
“Was… was it a ‘y’all’?”  
“Adam, it was a y’all! Fuck Itsy Bitty is back! Welcome back little Bittle.”  
“And after you wonder why Chad and B-square are bastards. You guys are really bastards, not those poor kids. And yeah, no wonder why the bastard twins are bastards, they have shitty names! Pun intended.”  
“Oh, Eric calm down,” Shitty laughed, “the bastard twins may have shitty names, but the name does not define the man. Chad will never play lacrosse. You heard me, he will never.”

When Adam and Justin announced they were having a child, Lardo and Shitty announced they were having a new baby the minute after. And that day, the men drank a lot. It was probably the last time they were really really drunk. And they promised themselves to name their child with a name chosen by the others. They wrote down the name in a piece of paper and put the name in an envelope. The babies arrived at the same hospital, the same day. So, when they all met in Lardo’s room to open the envelopes, they all laughed and never looked back at what they did. Justin and Adam’s son was name Barthélémy, with the stupid accent and the French spelling, just like their friend. The nicknames changed a lot, and had been “B-quare” for the last couple of month. And Lardo and Shitty’s son was named Chad, just for the sake of it. For that day, they knew the boys would be trouble and boy, they did. At five, the bastard twins (as they were called behind their back) made every stupid move possible. And they took a great pleasure at bullying Knut who was four and quieter than all of his brothers. The parents were extra-aware of that, and that was also a reason why Bitty had a soft sport for the boy.

“Lardo and gentlemen, I shall go to bed, I’m exhausted. I’ll be there at 1 to pick Knut up, and then you are bringing me the B-twins at my place Sunday morning.”  
“See you Bits, text us when you’re home, okay.”  
“I will. Love you guys.”

 

•••

Jack was surprised that their house was so… normal. In college, Shitty and Lardo were so quirky and fun and he always imagined them living in something quirky and fun and not that normal.   
They walked from their place to Felix’s. Rosie took a minute to breathe before ringing. And it took her boyfriend less than a second to open the door.   
“I saw you coming! I was watching the street from my bedroom’s window. My brothers are napping, except for Knut before he is with his friend. But you will not be overwhelmed and they promised my dad and mom that we will be able to play nicely without anyone playing with us if you don’t want them to play with us. I am really happy to see you and also…”  
“Breathe Felix,” Lardo cut, “come on in. Welcome to our place. I’m Larissa, and Felix’s mom” she said extending her hand to Rosie, “Felix you can take her jacket and then you can go in the playroom.”  
The two kids left their parents in the hallway.  
“So that was Felix. And yes, he does talk a lot.”  
“Rosie warned me,” Jack grinned, “she said he talked so much she sometime pretends to listen.”  
“Well… We all do. Well come on in, Jack. Shitts is with Soren, he has trouble getting to sleep, he’ll come down when the little one’s asleep.”  
“Soren is one of the twins, right?”  
“Yep. Soren and Ulysses. They are two.”  
“Do… do you have a picture? Because Shitty never sent pictures in his emails, and… you know I’m sorry, right? I’ve told you Wednesday how sorry I was, but really. I needed a break from everything after breaking my knee, but I should not have left my friends behind.”  
“Jack, we got it at the time, still do now. Just… don’t do it again. Shitty missed you too much to allow you to leave again. And yes, I do have pictures of my kids!”

Shitty arrived in the most unreal scene he could ever have imagined. His Lardo was showing his Jack six years worth of family pictures, giving him mundane details.  
“Hey Shits,” Lardo said when he saw him at the doorframe, “is Soren asleep?”  
“He is. In our bed, with your pillow, and I swear if I have to fight against another one over you, I’ll get really mad. Jack, did you know that boys have a massive Oedipus complex?”  
“Yep. Hasn’t my dad told you everything about me as a kid? Because if he missed the two years were I was always sleeping with my mom you really missed the funniest comment of Dad.”  
Instead of a reply, Shitty just took his old friend in his arms for a massive hug. When Shitty tried to let go, Jack hold him back and whispered “Not ready to let go yet”, which made Shitty cried and laughed at the same time. They hugged a moment long and when they let go, Jack looked at Shitty and solemnly asked:  
“Is it a coincidence that your kids initial spell ‘fuck us’ or did you do It on purpose?”  
Lardo and Shitty looked at each other and high five.   
“Dude, it’s been at least two years and no one notice. It was so hard to kind a K-name that was not shitty. And then a U-name. It was awful.”  
Jack looked at his friends, and said “I missed you so much.”

•••

“Knut, can you ring the bell, my hands are full!”  
“Yeah! Can I do your thing?  
Bitty laughed and nodded. The little boy rang the bell the Bitty-way and opened the front day while yelling they were home.


	4. Chapter 4

What Bitty likes the most about the Knight-Duan kids were their unashamed happiness. When they were happy, they truly were happy. And right now, little Knut was yelling his happiness in his house.   
Bitty was following the little boy who was running straight to the kitchen. He could hear the four-years old explaining they had visited three groceries shop and baked a bazillions cupcakes and he ate eight hundreds and they did not save some for his brothers. Then, when Bitty was entering the kitchen, after taking off his shoes and putting his coat on the rack, he could hear Knut say:  
“Who are you? I don’t know you!”  
And Bitty could recognize that laugh. Jack Zimmermann was in the kitchen, and it was too late to escape without being rude. It took him a second too long to cross the threshold, and Jack noticed him before he could have a clearer mind.   
“Hi Bitty.”  
“Hello, Jack.”  
“My Bitty, you know him?”, Knut said from his dad’s knees.   
“Yes, I know him. We went to college together with your parents and Justin and Adam. Jack used to be a good friends of us. And he left.”  
“Okay.”  
Knut looked at this new person. He was not used to seeing new grown-ups in his house. In his mind, there were only (1) his parents and their best friends and, (2) the other grown-up. And he could not manage to put this Jack into one of this category.   
“So, yeah, Knut, this is my old friend Jack”, Shitty stated to fill the silence, and “Jack, this is our number four, little Knut.”  
“Not little Knut. I am four and half and also, Soren and Ulysses are little, and I am not.”  
“No, you’re not little”, Jack smiled, “you seem really strong.”  
“I am super strong. One time, Chad and Bart were holding me and can you believe, I almost broke Chad’s finger. And another time, I was really mad at Ugo because he drew on my dinosaur that Justin made me and I pull his hair so hard some of it came into my hand and Ugo cried.”  
“We got it, thanks, Cutie-Knut”, Lardo cut.  
“Once, I broke someone nose because they said mean things to me.”  
Knut stopped his rant and looked at Jack with intensity.   
“What?”  
“I broke someone nose because they said mean things to me”, Jack repeated.   
“Did your mom and dad yelled at you?”  
“Not really. I was a grown-up and I was playing hockey.”  
“Hey! My daddy played hockey! Daddy did you break someone noses?”  
“Nope, I never broke someone else nose.”  
“But, I can tell you that I broke someone nose to save your dad’s honour.”  
“For real?”  
Knut seemed so impressed and so under the Zimmermann charm that Bitty felt nauseous. And that little boy climbed on the table and crawl - as all of the boys in that house were used to - to Jack. Jack was smiling softly and started to tell him the family friendly version of the story. 

Bitty was by the threshold, and looking at Jack and a child made him realized he was looking at what could have been his future. Jack looked basically the same. The same traditional haircut, the same fashion style – even though, nothing clashed. Jack was calm and was playing with Knut’s hand while talking.   
“I am sorry, I should have warned you he was still here.”   
“It’s okay, Lardo. I’ve told you. He was Shitty’s best friends, and Shitty deserves to have his best friend back.”   
“But I can feel you’re hurt.”  
Bitty looked at Lardo, and smiled shyly.   
“I am not hurt, but I am being rude. So, I will leave you to your guest and I will see you next Friday.”  
“Bitty...”  
“Well, I am going”, Bitty said loud enough to be heard by everyone in the kitchen, “Knut, it was a delight to have you. Shitty, Lardo, see you Friday. Jack, have a nice day.”

When the door slammed after Bitty, the adults in the room looked at each other.   
“My Bitty seemed very sad. And he did not hug me goodbye.”  
“He was feeling sick, Cutie-Knut. He just told me”, his mom assured, “that’s why he did not hug you, he did not want to make you sick.”  
“Okay. Where are the brothers?”  
“Well. Ulysses and Soren are still sleeping. Chad is at Bart’s house and Felix and Ugo are playing in their bedroom with Rosie”, Shitty explained.  
“Felix’s girl-wife is home? And you have not told me?”  
Knut left the room, yelling at his brothers that he was coming.  
“So, now you’ve met all of our boys.”  
“Knut looks a lot like Bitty, it’s kind of weird.”  
“They spend a lot of time together”, Shitty started. “Knut has it hard. Chad and Bart are not really nice with him, they don’t include him in games and such, and the twins are still babies so Knut does not really have a lot of friends. He is so much quieter than the rest of the brood. He likes being alone, he loves to read – by the way, he knows how to read, because he asked Felix to teach him this summer! Kids are insane! He and Bitty love each other and you know how Bitty is… Yesterday, we were talking about putting him on skate.”  
“That would be awesome!”, Jack shrieks, “I can help with that. Rosie is starting next month on the co-ed team. She used to skate in Paris, but we stopped a little while ago, after her mom died. And she asked if she could do it. That’s why I was at the ice-ring that week. I’ll train the pee-wee team, and I would like to go back on the ice myself. Not pro, but you know, I could help the rookie or whatever…”

•••

“And can you believe that all of the Dads were friends with Jack?”  
“Jack is sooooo cool.”  
“He wrestled with us. For real.”  
“And he will take little Knut to ice-skate to see if Knut loves it.”  
“And Adam and Justin..”  
“Don’t call your dads by their first names.”  
“… said they were so glad to have their friends back. And Jack made them cry at the dinner table. Because he said Rosie’s mom was dead. And he was crying and Rosie made him stop and it was so awkward and sad and…”  
“My dad was crying and hugging Jack and Bart’s dad were crying and then Lardo said we could watched a movie and the grown-up stayed in the kitchen and we watched TWO movies. And only Bart and I were not sleeping. And when Jack left he said he was proud to see that the legacy is still alive with us.”

Still Bitty picked the bastard twins this morning; they only spoke about how wonderful Jack was. It was lunchtime, and Bitty was sick of it.

•••

For the first time in years, Bitty did not want to go to Friday-night’s dinner. All week he had to endure the groupchat. Sunday, the hot news was Jack and his redemption the night before. Monday, it was still about Jack. The three next days were about how Jack entertained the kids after school first with Shitty’s then with Adam and then by himself with all of the boys, while Lardo was alone with Rosie. Jack was back in their lives for a week. And they all forgave him.  
Bitty took his phone out and sent:   
“Guys, I won’t be able to join tonight. Sorry. XXX”

BSK: Are you ok?  
Bitty Bittle: Yes. Just tired and a bit sick.   
Larissa Knight-Duan: Is it about Jack ?  
Bitty Bittle : NO !   
Bitty Bittle : You are all allowed to have friends that I don’t get along with. And Jack was your friend before I was, and I get why you all want to be friends with him. Your kids love him, you had a great time together. And if he is half the man he used to be, I truly understand. But, guys, my heart won’t survive another Jack Zimmermann’s attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, well, look who's back.

**Author's Note:**

> If there are mistakes, just tell me : I'll correct them. English is not my first language and writing that is a challenge for me. :)


End file.
